Governor signs Eggman bill aiding rights of undocumented residents

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law Monday a bill to protect access to information by undocumented residents who have been victims of crime.

The Record

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law Monday a bill to protect access to information by undocumented residents who have been victims of crime.

The bill by Assemblywoman Susan Talamantes Eggman, D-Stockton, prohibits a law-enforcement agency from requiring crime victims to prove their legal presence in the country before obtaining crime reports.

It further specifies that a foreign passport or Mexican consular identification card is considered valid for the purposes of confirming the identification of a victim requesting the records. Eggman has worked with the nonprofit group El Concilio, which helps Spanish-speaking residents throughout San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties.

El Concilio discovered victims were being denied their records without proof of legal residence. Similar practices were discovered in at least four other California counties.

AB1195 passed both houses of the Legislature with broad bipartisan support, according to a news release from her office.